No matter what walk of life you’re in, today, whatever you did you had one eye(or both) on the trade news. Well we made it past the deadline. I’ll be reading alot about the MEAT MAN in the Daily News (N.Y.) every morning. Just like I did with Piazza & still do with LoDuca and quite a few others. PROCTOR will be back tossing the ball for us again. Not good not seeing KENT in the lineup, I hope he don’t take to long to heal. The most important guy tonight is PENNY. I really don’t care about anything else except winning and I know we all feel the same. LET’S GO DODGERS******

so nomar has gone from blocking loney to blocking laroche. either way we are unhappy. nomar will not sit. such is life as a dodger fan. but a few months ago did anyone think that nomar would be moved? no. he might go to the bench next year. crazier things have happened.

Right now our prospects are having tons of success!! Delwyn Young is hitting .390 since the beginning of June in AAA!! LaRoche is slugging .943 this month! Kemp and Loney are both hitting well over .300 in the majors! Life is good. It would be even better if we could make room for everybody.

yeasone–if you are following from the prior thread, the non-waiver trade deadline is the time by which teams can make a trade without putting players on waivers. Waivers are when a player is offered to every team in the league, in reverse order of the standings (i.e. last place first)–and then I think the other league. If a team claims a player off of waivers, the team that put the player on waivers has to either pull the player back, and he can’t be put back on waivers for some period (the rest of the year, I assume?), trade him to the team that claimed him, or release him–in which case the team that made the claim has to take him.

As a result of the waivers, most trades get blocked. If there is a good player (let’s say a Joe Blanton) who gets put on waivers, a team will usually put in a claim, and the offering team has to pull him back, and is not free to deal the player to whomever they want. Teams often put in claims just to block such trades, knowing that they probably will be pulled back. But, a few years ago, the Yankees claimed Jose Canseco off of waivers, and whatever team he was on at the time (Devil Rays–it was the downslope of Canseco’s career) just forced the Yankees to take him. Funny stuff.

That being said, there still are sometimes some trades before August 31–when the rosters expand on September 1. No deals are made after that usually, since you have to be on a team’s roster by then to be in the post-season.

I am worried about Kent. Normally, I would say that I think it’s just precautionary, and Kent gets a day off every once in a while–but the silence worries me.

I don’t love the trade, but I get it. With Nomar, Kent, Abreu, and LaRoche, there are 4 infielders for this year (and possibly next if Kent exercises his option–and if he is hitting the way he has been the last month, I hope he does) for 2 infield jobs. This means the Dodgers really believe in LaRoche, who is the last of the Jacksonville 5 to get to the big show (the other 4 are already huge contributors, and basically in their projected roles [theough Brox is not the closer yet, but will be once Saito decides to hang it up–hopefully not for a couple of years, but relatively soon]).

The deal was probably not balanced–The Yankees probably got the better end, but what’s the point of having a player we are not really going to use. Betemit may turn out to be great (or he could stink), but he was not going to find out in LA. Procter, meanwhile, is not as good of a starting pitcher.

As everyone notes, Young replaces Betemit tonight, and then Procter will take Hull’s spot (we need Houlton for spot starts and long relief). Young is necessary as a left-handed bat, and also, I think that this was his third year in Las Vegas, which means that he might be out of options after this year. So, we are going to have to put him on the active roster or risk him to waivers. I don’t see him as strong as a player as Kemp or Ethier, but he may fill in the pinch-hit role.

LaRoche, Hull, and Stults will all get recalled on September 1. Olmedo will get a few more starts at 3B for the next month, but Nomar will not get as much time off. Come September 1, LaRoche will get a few more key starts down the stretch to spell Nomar. Remember, the last guy to get starts down the stretch to spell Nomar drove in 9 runs one day in Colorado, and is now the starting first baseman–so LaRoche just needs to capitalize on the opportunity when it comes.

My votes for Superstars:

Kemp, Billingsley, and Martin (who may already be). I have said privately that Kemp will break through some time before August 1 of this year and August 1 of next year to acknowledged star level. Bills’ stuff is too good, and Martin is already the top catcher in the NL.

I would love to say Loney (who for various reasons I think I have to admit is my favorite player–including my predisposition in favor of first basemen because of Steve Garvey, and because of the Loney Song). But while he MAY become a superstar, I can’t say for sure that he will. I think he will be more respected as a ballplayer around the league than Eric Karros (which means he WILL make some All-Star teams), but even an Eric Karros quality player is a very solid player. He might be better to much better.

The rest all have possibilities for greatness, but most will prove to be very good. Remember, you don’t need a team of 9 superstars–you need a team of 9 good ballplayers, and hopefully one or two of them will be the guy who can carry the team.

I second the “Bean Barry.” Of all the times we’ve walked Barry, I don’t think I could be any happier to see it than today. I don’t want him to get 755 or 756, but when he eventually does, I hope it’s not against us.

Hey — I don’t know if this is the right spot to post this comment, so sorry if I’m off-topic.
I have a friend in Hollywood who can almost always hear the Spanish language broadcast at the same time that Vin is speaking, like in the background. Sometimes it’s nearly as loud as Vin. Have others experienced this? He’s on Time-Warner Cable. I’ve heard it — it’s extremely funny, and he has a great attitude about it. But I can’t hear it at my house, and I’ve never heard anyone else report it. Any thoughts?

seems like most of the people here are grumpy and suicidal when we’re losing and look like we’re about to lose.

After the game, the depressed postings turn into micro-managing of the game, and the “should have could have” type posts become more rampant. Also mixed in are the always pleasant, but repetitive individual dodger player bashing..

after lineups are posted, however, the second-guessing of the lineups and the complaints about who should be in the lineup (same arguments for the past 2 months) litter this blog until game time..

There has been 3 sraight sweeps in a row between these 2 teams so at least we have the law of averages on our side. The only trouble is tonight we had our best pitcher. Just got to keep fighting it never was easy and nobody said it would be. The Gnat are not that good a team they could mess up.

The Dodgers have done well to be where they are this season, but you have to begin to wonder how great an uphill battle this is. So far, they have lost 3 pitchers (Schmidt, Kuo and Brazoban) for the rest of the year with Wolf likely out for rest of year and Tsao not back until late August. In addition, there is a possibility that Lowe could require surgery, which would put him out for the rest of the season. Kent is now also out for most of this week. No way we can win the West with a rotation of Penny, Bills, Tomko, Hendy and most likely Stults. In addition, look at the bench now. Martinez is under .200; Saenz is under .200 and is 5-39 since May 27th, Young and Kemp are essentially rookies. Compare that to the bench the Padres now have. I’m not trying to be negative, but perhaps it’s just not the Dodgers season. I’d like to see them keep Hull on the roster and DFA Hernandez when Proctor arrives. At least let’s give a youngster an opportunity-plus, Hernandez doesn’t have much. He was lucky to escape last night. Also, send Houlton back down and bring Meloan up. This kid has been unhittable since he was drafted, he needs a chance. I’d also like to see McDonald be given a chance at the rotation instead of Stults. I know McDonald have only 4 games or so above Class A, but he has done well at every level and seems to have great control. Dodgers also need to look hard at the value of Martinez and Saenz. Are they really worth the roster spots and taking up space that either Hu, Abreau or Laroche could fill. Again, i’m not trying to be negative, just realistic. too many injuries to the staff have killed the Dodgers momentum.

Considering that I have no faith in Colletti whatsoever based on his team building performance so far, I am glad that the trading deadline is over and we have all of our prospects in tact. Unfortunately what he has given us in this veteran based team and his health issue signings (Wolf, Schmidt) is not likely to make the playoffs. I wish they could, but more likely we need to prepare for 2008. It’s time to trim the people who should have no future with the Dodgers in ’08 like Saenz, Martinez, Seanez. Most of all COLLETTI and LITTLE, although that will have to wait until the season is over. I’m for LOGAN WHITE in 2008.

Can somebody comment knowledgeably about the status of Abreu. He has not played since the Dodgers sent him back down to Vegas. You have to assume he is injured. Is this the end of his season, or can we expect him to be available with the Dodgers?

LaRoche wasn’t 100 percent healthy those three weeks in May he spent with the Dodgers, hitting .211 in 38 at-bats. So he returned to Las Vegas, spent time on the disabled list while his ailing shoulders healed, then went on a tear.

He entered Tuesday’s home game against Round Rock hitting .317 with 15 home runs and 41 RBIs in 60 games. He has hit in eight straight.

It’s not the way everyone responds to being demoted. Tony Abreu hasn’t played for the 51s since being returned July 19, the official word being because of an injured side. You wonder if it’s more bruised ego, given how healthy the infielder appeared hitting line drives in batting practice Tuesday

An ulcer, unless it is so far gone as to require surgery, is readily treatable with medication and should not impair Abreu from playing for such an extended time. Can we, please, have Josh fill us in with some information. If Kent should become unavailable for some extended time, it could be improtant as to who we have in the minors that could come up to the Dodgers.

I think there’s a chance, slight might it be, that ned saw the writing on the wall with this season and all its injuries, and decided not to chuck the future just for a slight chance at making an impact this year. the injuries to the pitching staff has been unbearable. he would have been hard pressed to get us another good starter and a bat. there is probably much more hope for this team next year, when the kids have more experience and more people are healthy. that being said, i think we can still compete this year too.

the sad part about this year if we can’t win the WS is we won’t be able to give kent the championship he always wants…
i mean kent is giving everything he’s got rayt now… he wants these championship very bad…

I still want this year to be our year just for the veterans whose not going to be here next year…

If indeed management will ride out this season with the talent that we have left and prepare for next season, then let’s make some constructive changes that will develop some of that talent for next year. Ethier should be playing every day; either Gonzo or Pierre should take turns giving up some playing time to accommodate Kemp in the lineup – it should not have to be a case of either Ethier OR Kemp. We should immediately get rid of Saenz, Martinez and Hernandez and replace them with some talent from our minors. While we’re cleaning house, it’s way past time for DONNELY TO GO!!! We also need to bring up somebody to fill in for Kent at second base when necessary and for late inning support.

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